Chapter 1

I was Justin Bird's mistress for five years, and I gave birth to his daughter.

He told his friends: [Even if she had ten kids, she'd still just be a plaything.]

I smiled, turned away, and left with my daughter.

Later, Justin searched everywhere for me, went down on his knees, begging me to marry him.

His friend asked: [Alicia's been with you all this time, no title, no commitment, and she even had your kid. Doesn't that mean anything to you?]

[Why should I care? Even if she had ten kids, she'd still just be a plaything.]

Staring at the conversation on the screen, I gripped the mouse so hard my knuckles turned white.

Justin had used my computer last time, and I never thought he'd be so reckless that his chat history ended up syncing here.

His friend said: [Alicia's really pitiful. She did everything she could just to have your baby, and in the end, she got nothing.]

Justin said: [Pitiful? Serves her right. She brought it on herself.]

I could almost picture him, the way he'd arch his brows in disdain.

In Justin's eyes, I was just the scheming gold-digger who clawed her way into his bed, wrecked his future with Gwendolyn Lane, and became a stain on his life.

His friend said: [When you're tired of her, why not pass her around to the rest of us?]

[Honestly, Alicia's a real knockout. She's got curves in all the right places, and her skin is flawless.]

It took Justin a long time to reply. [Whatever.]

I shut down the computer and held my chest, trying to steady myself.

If this had happened before, hearing Justin talk about me like that would've shattered me. I would've bawled my eyes out, run to him, hoping he'd say something to make it better.

But every time, he'd just give me that cold stare, mocking me, reminding me where I stood.

And I'd grab his hand, looking up at him, just hoping for a little bit of kindness.

But now, I was completely numb.

He was just a man. I was done with him.

When Lyric got home from school, I was busy making her favorite honey cake.

She stood on her tiptoes, watching my hands as I worked. "Mom, Abbie asked me today why Dad never comes to pick me up."

I paused and looked down at her. "What did you tell her?"

Her big eyes blinked up at me. "I told her Dad's on a business trip."

Lyric really took after Justin. She was the spitting image of him, and that sharp mind of his? She'd inherited it too. Even at her age, her intelligence was already shining through.

But even so, Justin hardly ever noticed her.

I crouched down and asked softly, "Lyric, if I took you away, would you want to come with me?"

Her eyes went wide. "Where would we go?"

I said, "I haven't decided yet. Do you want to leave?"

She nodded hard. "Dad doesn't like us. Let's go find people who do."

My heart twisted.

Lyric wasn't always like this. She used to be crazy about Justin. Every time he came over, she'd run up to him, eager to show off her drawings and share her favorite toys.

But maybe because he couldn't stand me, Justin started treating Lyric the same way. He'd always frown and shoo her away, telling her not to bother him while he worked.

One time, Lyric was cutting fruit for him, ended up cutting her finger, but still brought it over, grinning like nothing happened.

Justin just glanced at her bleeding hand and snapped irritably, "Kids shouldn't be playing with knives. You're always causing trouble."

He didn't even touch the fruit. He just stormed off, leaving her standing there.

After that, Lyric stopped trying to please him. Whenever he came over, she'd just sneak a peek and then hide away, playing by herself.

Thinking about all this, I was even more determined to leave. Lyric was right. There was no point in staying with someone who didn't want us.

That night, Lyric had just gone to bed when Justin showed up.

Gwendolyn was back in town lately. Shouldn't Justin be with her? So why was he showing up here?

Justin asked, "Where's Lyric?"

I replied, "She just went to sleep."

He almost never asked about Lyric, so I couldn't help but share, "Lyric got two Elsa stickers at school today. She came in first in her class..."

Justin cut me off. "Talk about something else. That's boring."

I was stunned for a moment, then rage bubbled up inside me.

He didn't even care about his own daughter. Fine, go spend his life with Gwendolyn and leave us alone.

Justin liked to hit the gym and never really ate much at night, so I warmed up a glass of milk for him.

"Mr. Bird, you haven't visited in ages," I said.

He never let me use his name. I always had to call him like I was just the help.

He downed the milk in one go and scoffed, "What, are you complaining?"

Back then, whenever he asked like that, I'd get all flustered, scrambling to explain myself, terrified I'd upset him.

But now, all I felt was pure contempt. Who did he think he was, acting like I wanted him around? Honestly, I'd be happier if he just disappeared.